Combined folding carriage and cradle.



No. 64!,539. Patented Ian. l6, I900. S. PEBSICO. COMBINED FOLDING CARRIAGE AND CRADLE.

(Application filed Oct. 16, 1899.) (No Mode!.) 2 Sheats Sheet l.

INVENTOR m M ll... H n.

WITNESSES 7 fiifi m: mums PETERS ca, FHOYO UTNO., WASHINGTON, u c

s. PERSICU.

COMBINED FOLDING CARRIAGE AND CRADLE.

Application filed. Oct. 18, 1899.)

a /If 5 B F g J, j 22 29 INVENTOR WITNESSES THE mmms PETERS cu. waromrna, WASHINGTON. B4 c.

SALVATORE PERSIOO, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

COMBINED FOLDING CARRIAGE AND CRADLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 64.1,59, dated January 16, 1900.

Application filed October 16, 1899. Serial No. 733,703. (No model-l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SALVATORE PERSICO, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Oombined Folding Carriage and Cradle, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a combined folding carriage and cradlethat is to say, I provide a carriage whose body may be rocked by hand laterally like an ordinary cradle either when the carriage is standing still or is in motion, or the body may be so connected to one of the wheels that forward or backward movement of the carriage will cause the body to rock, or the body may be locked against rocking movement when the carriage is either stationary or in motion, or the sides and ends of the body, the pusher, and the wheels, may all be folded inward, so that the carriage may be conveniently picked up and carried by a single person, the carriage as a whole being light, strong, and durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture. I am thus enabled to provide for persons of moderate means, or persons living in small rooms or up one or more flights of stairs, a light and inexpensive carriage that can be carried up or down stairs with comparative convenience, will occupy but little room when not in use, will do away with the necessity of purchasing both a carriage and a cradle, and which when set up will occupy no more room than an ordinary carriage or cradle.

With these ends in View I have devised the novel combined folding carriage and cradle which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, andusing reference characters to designate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating my novel carriage set up and ready for use. For convenience in illustration I have shown the link as connected to the crank, so that the body will be rocked by forward or backward movement of the carriage; Fig. 2, a plan view of my novel carriage in the folded position; Fig. 3, an end elevation corresponding with Fig. 1, the folded position of the wheels being shown.in dotted lines; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail View of one of the standards by which the body is carried; Fig. 5, a section on the line 5 5 in Fig. 4; Fig. 6, an enlarged detail View of one of the folding shanks by which the wheels are carried, and Fig. 7 is a view of one of the shanks from another point of View and in the folding position.

10 denotes aframe which is preferably made of light strong wood, and 11 a pusher which extends rearward and upward therefrom and the side pieces of which are provided with joints 12, which permit the pusher to be folded over forward, as in Fig. 2, and with sliding sleeves 13, which are adapted to slide over the joints to lock the side pieces in the normal or upright position, as in Fig. 1, in which I have, for the sake of clearness, shown one of the sleeves in section. The body, which I have designated as a whole by A, comprises side and end rails 14, a suitable bottom 15 secured thereto, ends 16, hinged, as at 18, to the end rails of the body, and sides 17, hinged, as at 18, to the side rails of the body. When the sides and ends are in the operative posi tioni. 6., set up ready for use-they are se cured together at the corners by suitable clips 19. In order to fold the body, it is simply nec essary to manipulate the clips so as to disengage the sides and ends from each other at the corners. The ends may then be folded down, as in Fig. 2, and the sides folded over them, or vice versa, as preferred. The body is pivoted in standards B in substantially the manner I will now describe.

denotes trunnions which are rigidly secured to the mid-length of the end rails. I have shown these trunnions as provided with arms 21, which partially inclose the end rails of the body and are bolted thereto. The trunnions extend through slots 22 in the standards and engage bearings O, which are adapted to move vertically in central openings 24 in the standards and are held at the raised position by springs 23, the springs being adapted to yield to the weight of the occupant of the carriage, so as to make the carriage ride easy. The special bearings for the trunnions are not of the essence of my invention. In the drawings I have shown the trunnions as journaled in a very simple and inexpensive but thoroughly practical form of ball-bearings.

In order to provide that the body may be readily detached from the frame, I secure the bearings in the openings in the standards by means of covers 25, which are pivoted to the roo tops of the standards and are locked in the closing position by thumb-screws 26. When itis desired to detach the body from the frame, the operator loosens one of the thumb-screws, turns the cover, and then lifts the bearing out of the central opening. After removing the bearing from the trunnion the bearing may be replaced in the opening in the standard and retained there by the cover. The other trunnion may be drawn out from the other bearing without removing the bearing from the standard. The operation of reattaching the body to the standards will be readily understood from the description just given. The standards are shown as provided with arms 27, which partially inclose the end pieces of the frame, to which they are rigidly bolted.

D denotes the wheels, whose axles 28 are secured in forks 29, carried by shanks 30, which are rigidly secured to the frame in any suitable manner-for example, as in the drawings, in which I have shown the reduced upper ends of the shanks as passing through the side-bars of the frame and as provided with plates 31, which are secured by bolts or screws to the frame. In order to provide for conveniently folding the wheels inwardupon the frame, I provide the shanks with suitable hinge-joints 32 and provide sleeves, 33 which slide over the joints, as in Fig. 6, to keep the shanks rigid in use. I11 order to prevent the possibility of any of the sleeves slipping up and thejoints folding while in use, I secure the sleeves in the locking position by means of pins 34, which pass through the shanks just above the sleeves.

35 denotes springs attached at one end to the pins and curved so as to embrace the shanks and keep the pins from working out. The pins are preferably connected to the sleeves by chains 36. The operation of folding the wheels inward upon the frame will be readily understood from the drawings. The operator simply has to draw out the pins and raise the sleeves, when the shanks may be folded inward, as clearly indicated in Figs. 3 and 7.

In order to provide for rocking the body from side to side like a cradle when the carriage is in motion or by moving the carriage slowly backward and forward, I provide a link 37, one end of which is pivoted to one side of the carriage and the other to a crank 38, which extends from the hub of one of the wheels. When this link is connected to the crank, movement of the carriage either forward or backward will gently rock the body like a cradle. When .it is not desired to rock the body by movement of the carriage, the

have the body rocked at all, the link is'lef t secured to the under side of the body, as in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the body is locked to the frame by means of one or more hooks 40, which are shown as pivoted to the frame (see Fig. 1) and adapted to engage eyes 41 in the side rails of the body.

42 denotes pins upon which the hooks rest when not in the locking position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1 1. In a device of the character described the combination with a frame and wheels, of standards rigidly secured to the frame, vertically-movable bearings in said standards and a body having trunnions engaging the bearings so that the body may rock laterally.

2. In a device of the character described the combination with the frame, standards rigidly secured thereto, vertically-movable bearings in said standards and the body having trunnions engaging the bearings, of wheels, forks therefor having shanks 30 which are rigidly secured to the frame and are provided with hinge-joints so that the wheels may be folded inward upon the body and means for locking said joints in operative position.

3. In a device of the character described the combination with a frame and wheels, of standards extending upward from the frame and having central openings, and slots 22, bearings in said openings, springs supporting the bearings and a body having trunnions extending therefrom which pass through the slots and engage the bearings in the standards.

4:- In a device of the character described the combination with a frame and wheels, one of which is provided with a crank 38, of standards extending upward from the frame, a body having trunnions bearing in said stand ards and a pivoted link upon the body, the other end of which may be connected to the crank so that forward or backward movement of the carriage will rock the body.

5. In a device of the character described the combination with the frame and wheels, one of which is provided with a crank 38, of standards extending upward from the frame, a body having trunnions bearingin said standards, means for lockin g the body to the frame and means for connecting the body to the crank when it is desired to rock the body by movement of the carriage.

6. In a device of the character described the combination with the frame and wheels, of standards extending upward from the frame and having central openings, bearings in said openings, springs by which said bear' ings are supported, a body having trunnions adapted to engage the bearings and a removable cover upon one of the standards so that the bearing may be removed when it is (le sired to detach the body from the frame.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SALVATORE PERSIOO.

Witnesses:

A. M. Woos'rnn, S. W. ATHERTON. 

